Saudi Arabia complains UN blamed coalition for bombing Yemen hospital

By Michelle Nichols

New York: Saudi Arabia complained on Wednesday that United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had blamed Saudi-led air strikes for hitting a UN-supported hospital in Yemen before the incident had been properly investigated.

Saudi Arabia's UN ambassador Abdallah al-Mouallimi said the Saudi-led coalition operating in Yemen did not carry out Monday's attack on the hospital run by aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF).

The Medecins Sans Frontieres logo at the site of their hospital in Saada, Yemen, seen in July.Credit:AP

The Saudis intervened in Yemen's civil war in March to try to restore the government after it was toppled by rebel Houthi forces backed by Iran, but a mounting civilian death toll and dire humanitarian situation has alarmed human rights groups.

Advertisement

In a statement on Tuesday, Mr Ban "condemned the air strikes by the Saudi-led coalition" that hit the hospital in north Yemen's Saada province, a region controlled by Houthi forces. No one was killed in the attack.

The remains of the MSF hospital in Yemen after the alleged air strike.Credit:MSF

The hospital is run with help from the UN children's agency UNICEF and the World Health Organisation.

"We regret the statement that was attributed to the Secretary-General," Mr Mouallimi told a news conference, adding that he would contact Mr Ban. "How was the hospital hit or damaged? We do not know and we will have a full and transparent investigation carried out by the Yemeni authorities."

He said Saudia Arabia was aware of many other incidents in Yemen where damage had been caused to targets by Houthi artillery fire and blamed on the coalition.

"It would not be surprising if this was a similar situation. However, it would also be premature to reach any such conclusions," Mr Mouallimi said. "The wise thing to do is the await the results of the investigation."

An image released by Medecins Sans Frontieres shows the aftermath of the alleged air strike on a hospital in Saada province, Yemen. Credit:MSF

He said MSF had given the coalition the correct coordinates of the hospital and it was on a list of forbidden targets. He said the nearest air operations at the time of the attack were at least 40 kilometres north of the hospital.

Shiite fighters known as Houthis in the Yemeni capital Sanaa. A Saudi commander has suggested the rebels might have been behind the attack on the hospital.Credit:AP

Coalition warplanes bombed the Houthis across Yemen on Wednesday and dropped weapons to Islamist militias battling the group.

The UN has designated Yemen as one of its highest-level humanitarian crises, alongside emergencies in South Sudan, Syria and Iraq. It says more than 21 million people in Yemen need help, or about 80 per cent of the population.

A child who was injured in clashes is taken to a hospital in Taiz, Yemen, by her father. The UN has declared the Yemen conflict a humanitarian crisis.Credit:AP

Earlier this month, 22 people were killed when a US air strike hit an MSF hospital in Afghanistan.

US President Barack Obama apologised, but MSF wants an independent humanitarian commission to investigate what it calls a war crime.